1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a technique for configuring settings for an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses include a storage medium such as a hard disk or a memory for storing various types of information used for setting operations and managing apparatus states. The information includes, for example, an operation log of the image forming apparatus, setting information on the main body, user information such as an address book, counter data, and license information. The image forming apparatus configures the operation settings and manages the state by writing such information in the storage medium and reading it out. However, writing information in the storage medium and reading it out is not sufficient under various conditions.
For example, an image forming apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-95739 generates information on a job which is executed when an error occurs with the image forming apparatus and an operating state is changed from the operation state to a power saving state. Information necessary for the apparatus to recover the operating state is also generated. If the content of the error is such that the apparatus can be recovered without disconnecting power, the image forming apparatus changes the state to the power saving state and uses a volatile storage unit. If the content of the error is such that the apparatus needs to be powered off before the recovery operation, the image forming apparatus changes the state to the power saving state and uses a non-volatile storage unit.
In this manner, the image forming apparatus discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-95739 changes the storage medium for storing information according to the content of the error so that the information can be appropriately stored in the storage medium.
However, changing the storage medium depending on the content of the error by the technique described above is insufficient when the information on the image forming apparatus needs to be stored in a storage medium under various situations.
For example, although information to be stored in a storage medium of an image forming apparatus is different depending on the situation of the image forming apparatus (e.g., before/after installation in the client environment), according to the conventional image forming apparatus, information corresponding to various situations of the image forming apparatus is not appropriately stored in the storage medium. Accordingly, such information is not utilized.